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Hurricane Igor
Hurricane Igor was the strongest and deadliest hurricane of the 2028 Atlantic Hurricane Season. It formed from a well-defined Tropical Wave that travelled across the Tropical Atlantic. It became known as the worst hurricane in both Newfoundland and the United Kingdom. The severe destruction of this storm was spread on a further scale than any other atlantic hurricane before it. Meteorological History Formation On August 31, A Tropical Wave exited the coast of Africa. The wave than remained nearly stationary for several days with no further development. On September 4, the wave began a westward motion, being pushed by an area of high pressure. The system finally showed signs of organization later that day. It organized into Tropical Depression Eleven on September 6, and into Tropical Storm Igor the next day. Igor struggled to intensify, as the Tropical Atlantic was unfavorable at that time. The storm failed to intensify beyond 50 mph. By September 11, Igor was forecast to dissipate in the open atlantic by the following day. Uncertainty Igor failed to weaken the following day, and this began a long streak of uncertain forecasts, as there were many possible areas of high/low pressure that could develop to push the storm. Several models took Igor out to sea, similar to the 2010 storm, but a few models took Igor into the caribbean sea, the latter of which would end up more accurate. Eventually, on September 14, an area of high pressure formed in the central Atlantic, pushing Igor into the Caribbean. Then models seemed to agree on Igor attaining hurricane status, while NHC kept it a strong Tropical Storm. On September 15, a recon jet flew into Igor, and located 90 mph winds, along with a well-defined eyewall. Based on this information, Igor was upgraded to hurricane status. Igor briefly stalled at 90 mph, before intensifying again. Igor became a major hurricane during the evening of September 16, with winds of 115 mph. Path of Destruction As Igor moved west, shear and dry air were practically non-existent, and Igor became a category 4 hurricane as this happened. Igor intensified further and reached an initial peak of 150 mph. Igor than underwent an eyewall replacement cycle, and weakened to 130 mph. It than explosively intensified following this new organization. By 11:00 pm on September 18, Igor was 155 mph. On September 19, recon surprisingly found much faster winds, with sustained winds of 165 mph. Because of this, Igor was upgraded to category 5 status that day. Igor continued to intensify, reaching its ultimate peak of 190 miles per hour, tying with Hurricane Allen for fastest atlantic hurricane wind speed. Igor's minimum pressure of 886 millibars made it the second strongest atlantic hurricane on record, only behind Wilma's 882. Wind shear began to pick up in the area, weakening Igor. Another eyewall replacement cycle also occurred. On September 20, Igor made landfall on the Yucatan Penninsula with maximum sustained winds of 155 mph. Despite the weakening, Igor caused massive damage on the Yucatan Penninsula, comparable to that of Hurricane Dean. Igor remained over land, and was forecast to become a remnant low the next day. However, Igor's proximity to water slowed the weakening. On September 22, Igor emerged into the Gulf of Mexico as a 80 mph hurricane. Igor intensified in the favorable gulf, making landfall on Louisiana as a 125 mph C3 hurricane. This caused massive storm surge and damage, along with the highest US fatality count since Hurricane Sandy. As Igor moved inland, it became an extratropical cyclone inland, which doesn't usually happen, as they normally become remnants. Igor moved quickly, and re-entered the Tropical Atlantic on September 24, where it began to re-acquire tropical characteristics. Advisories were issued on Subtropical Storm Igor that day. Igor became tropical the next advisory. Igor than sped out, and was forecast to dissipate within 24 hours. Landfalls and dissipation As opposed to the NHC forecast, Igor retained Tropical Characteristics. Igor made landfall on Newfoundland as a C2 hurricane on September 25. Igor finally began to move out in the open sea. Igor than began to undergo severe intensity fluctuations due to mixed conditions in the north atlantic. At this point, Igor was forecast to make landfall on Ireland as a Tropical Depression. Unexpectedly warm waters off the coast of Ireland allowed a brief window of intensification, and Igor intensified into a 85 mph hurricane off the coast. On September 27, Igor made landfall on Ireland at this intensity. Due to the surprise nature of the storm, Igor caused severe destruction. Igor continued west, making landfall on the United Kingdom as a 60 mph Tropical Storm. Igor finally became a fully extratropical cyclone on September 29. Igor had a 23 day lifespan. Impact Mexico Mexico took a huge hit from Igor, as the storm made landfall as a strong category 4. Storm surge of over 10 feet was recorded. Due to this, several houses were swept away, which is why Mexico makes up a majority of the fatalities related to the storm. Mexico also resulted in tons of damage from this as well. In the end, Mexico made up for 652 fatalities and $7 billion in damage. United States Igor blasted the United States, starting with the storm coming close to Texas as a C2, causing 100 mph winds in the southern portion of the state. Weak damage was sustained. As Igor moved over Louisiana at category 3 status, massive storm surge almost leveled the area, even overcoming the precautions they had set up. Igor had a surge even higher than Katrina, as while Katrina left the roofs of houses above the water, Igor submerged entire houses across the state. Despite this, Igor's damage toll was lower than Katrina's due to the damage being confined to a smaller area. This is also why the fatality toll was lower. Igor also slammed the east coast of the United States with 110 mph winds and an average of 8 feet of storm surge. This also added a hefty number to Igor's toll. In all, Igor left a large portion of the USA in ruin, causing $82 billion in damage, and 355 fatalities. Canada & Newfoundland Newfoundland was caught off guard by the surprisingly strong storm. A large portion of the damage here from Igor was due to boats sinking and flooded buildings. Several boats were also dragged out to sea, including a boat with 3 people on it, who were lost at sea. Igor also caused some flooding. In total, Igor caused $500 million in damage and 3 fatalities. UK & Ireland Ireland was shocked when they learned a Tropical cyclone was headed their way, as opposed to the extratropical cyclones they are used to. Due to this, Igor was able to hit Ireland very hard, and brought historic storm surge to the area. Igor caused a surprisingly high amount of damage here, but that wasn't the worst Igor would do to the area. When Igor moved into Britain, it brought 60 mph winds, while still gusting to hurricane force. Above all other things, Igor caused the London Eye to fall into the Thames river again, after it had fallen before from Hurricane Gaston in 2016. Other than this, Igor's damage was limited to some street floods. Between the UK and Ireland, Igor caused $9.5 billion in damage and at least 65 fatalities. Retirement Due to Igor's huge impact across the Atlantic, and its historic impact on the UK and Ireland. The WMO retired the name Igor at the convention held in the spring of 2029. It will be replaced with Ian in 2034. Category:Category 5 hurricanes Category:Atlantic hurricanes Category:Hurricanes in the United Kingdom and Ireland Category:Extreme hurricane events Category:Crazy Category:Major Hurricanes Category:Costly storms Category:Deadly storms Category:Storms Worse Than Katrina